Handy Hardware has announced that Craig Cowart will succeed Doug Miller as President of Houston-based hardware distributor. Handy Hardware emerged from a Chapter 11 filing in August 2013 after being purchased by Hardware Holdings, part of the Littlejohn & Company group. Miller came to Handy in July 2013 as interim CEO.

Home Depot U.S. Retail President Craig Menear will succeed Frank Blake as CEO,effective Nov. 1. Blake has been CEO since 2007 and will remain chairman. Menear, who’s been with the chain since 1997, will join him on the board immediately.

Home Depot announced that Marvin Ellison is leaving the home improvement retailer to become CEO at J.C. Penney. Ellison is currently Exec VP Stores at The Home Depot.

Home Depot promoted Marc Powers to the role of EVP U.S. Stores, effective Nov. 1. Powers replaces Marvin Ellison, who left Home Depot to join J.C. Penney in a role that will eventually put him in the CEO post.

Huttig Building Products named Ken Schmitt as Regional VP of the Northeast. Relocating to New Hampshire in 2004, Schmitt became general manager of the Hooksett branch and in 2007 he was promoted to District Manager. Replacing Ken Schmitt as new GM of the Hooksett facility is Vin DiBiasio.

Huttig Building Products hired Bob Kern Sr. as the new territory manager to cover southern New Jersey from the Huttig Wilkes-Barre branch in Pennsylvania.

La-Z-Boy has appointed Aaron Thomas Brown as VP, Strategy and Analytics, a newly created position. Brown will report to Kurt Darrow, La-Z-Boy’s Chairman, President and CEO, and will spearhead strategic planning across the enterprise.

Lumber Liquidators has promoted Ray Cotton to Senior VP, Chief Compliance and Sustainability Officer. Cotton will continue to report directly to president and CEO Robert Lynch.

Rent-A-Center appointed Jana Kelly to the post of VP Inventory Management. Reporting to John Butler, Senior VP Supply Chain, Kelly is charged with leading the forecasting, inventory planning, allocation and replenishment of all domestic store products. Kelly brings over 14 years of experience in inventory-management leadership, most recently at MetroPCS Communications, where she led the mobile device supply-chain strategy.

Rent-A-Center appointed Anurag Gupta to VP Enterprise Project Management Office (EPMO). Reporting to Doug Guziec, Senior VP, Chief Strategy Officer, Gupta is charged with broad oversight of Rent-A-Center’s portfolio of business initiatives. His responsibilities include the establishment of processes and controls designed to manage all phases of these initiatives. He’s also tasked with the strategic evaluation of prospective business initiatives with an eye for determining which are green-lighted and when they are to be initiated.

ENAP and PAL have announced they have signed a non-binding Letter of Intent to merge. The new cooperative will have a combined purchasing power of $1.5 billion dollars annually. PAL was formed in 1937, and ENAP in 1967. Moving forward, the combined membership will span 33 states and include 447 member companies operating 742 lumberyards. The Letter of Intent is non-binding, and the merger requires approval by the shareholders of both cooperatives as well as satisfactory completion of due diligence. Steve Sallah, ENAP president and CEO will be president and CEO of the new company and PAL’s CEO and president Paul Dean will be Executive VP.

ENAP and PAL’s proposed merger currently lacks a new company name. The name of the new organization is expected to engage a great deal of discussion between now and February 2015, the deadline for the ratification of the merger agreement.

Green Initiatives:

Lowe’s Companies has received top honors from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for its SmartWay Transport Partnership. The 2014 SmartWay Excellence Award is a nod to Lowe’s environmentally conscious supply chain system, which has contributed to its six total SmartWay awards. The Lowe’s SmartWay program is designed to reduce fuel costs and emissions, with two-thirds of all Lowe’s import containers being transported by trucks that are no more than seven years old. Additionally, Lowe’s is working on expanding its fleet of natural gas trucks, which are now up and running at regional distribution centers in seven states.

Arthur has worked at Chain Store Guide for 20 years. He received a B.A. degree from City College of New York and attained a master’s degree in electronic communications from Brooklyn College. Please contact him if you have any questions or comments.